Lovelyish

Burt’s Bees Sensitive Facial Cleanser.  

Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne wash in pink grapefruit. Smells good and has little scrubby beads in it that’s not too harsh and doesn’t dry your face out like a lot of other scrubs. I have sensitive skin, too, and this works really well for me.

Also, try drinking more water and green tea. Hydration helps!

lancome- in the blue container

I really like Philosophy’s Purity Made Simple 

for me, I find a combination of salicylic acid(face wash) and benzoyl peroxide(acne treatment) works best, and one or the other, or in combination are what most dermatologists would recommend for mild to moderate acne

Have you talked to a dermatologist about it? If you’re having a hard time with the medicated face washes, then it’s possible that you might need to be prescribed a higher concentration (standard face washes come with 0.5% salicylic acid or 2.5% benzoyl peroxide, I think). Also, have you looked into other factors that aren’t product related, like your pillow, phone, or bangs? Also, what’s your makeup situation, as far as how much of you’re using and how you’re removing it?

Likas Papaya Whitening Soap. Cheap, lasts forever, and works wonders on acne!

Try cleaning up your diet and google “oil cleansing method”. After a decade of dermatologists and their special face washes, retinoids, benzoyl peroxides in different concentrations, all-natural expensive lines, antibiotics, pro-active, etc, the only thing that works for me is staying away from dairy, sugar, and grains, and using OCM. 

I have 3 face washes in my shower–Philosophy’s Purity Made Simple, Target’s brand of St. Ives Apricot Scrub, and just plain ol’ Dial orange liquid soap. I use whichever one (or a combination) depending on what I feel like my face needs that day. Purity Made Simple is good for when my skin feels more sensitive or dry and needs a little hydration. The St. Ives scrub I use just about every day. The Dial soap is best for clearing my breakouts and cleans my skin the best without drying it out.

You just have to play around with different soaps until you find something that works for your skin. Having some sort of routine, eating well and drinking lots of water helps too.

Philosophy’s Purity Made Simple is great.  It’s gentle on the skin and removes makeup pretty good.  I like to use St. Ives Apricot Scrub after.  That stuff has to be the best drugstore face wash.  I’ve also fallen in love with Burt’s Bees Citrus Facial Scrub is the BEST.  I’m ordering a jar from the website.  When I get that I’m going back to my old routine.  First I use Burt’s Radiance Facial Cleanser then the Citrus Scrub, followed by their serum which is $18 but will last you a long time.  I highly recommend their products.

You should talk to a dermatologist. It’s a better investment than randomly trying different cleansers.

I had really bad acne for years.  I tried all the medications, both topical and oral.  I went on birth control to help and that did a bit but it never completely cleared.  I was 17 then.  I used pretty much every over the counter acne wash I could find like Proactive and Clean and Clear, etc.  But all of those irritated my skin, dried it out and in some cases made my acne worse.  I had two facials a few months ago and myestitechian told me about a cleanser called Eminence that is wonderful.  I also started to use their local, home made facial cleanser by Spa Willamina along with their toner for “toxic laden skin.”  I’ve been using the cleanser and toner along with Eminence daily moisturizer with SPF for about 3 months now.  I’m 24 now and for the first time ever my skin is clear.  I haven’t had a break out since I started using that cleanser and only washing my face once a day.  The ph of those harsh face washes is to extreme for the ph of your skin.  So you end up washing away all the healthy oils on your skin and messing with the its healthy ph level.  The cleansers I use now are expensive but you’re paying for a jar full of active ingredients working to better your skin and you only need a tiny amount so it lasts for months.  When you buy the drug store or even department store products your spending at least $10 dollars on a bottle of water with about 2% active ingredient.  The cleansers are about $40-$50 bucks but Cetaphil makes a really nice gentle skin cleanser for about $12 that would work well too.  My skin looks so much healthier now that people actually comment on it.  I still have acne scarring on my cheeks but I can already see some of them starting to fade!  I will never use the salicylic or benzyl peroxide washes again or anything labeled for “acne” skin. 

I forgot to mention that I went off birth control about 2 years ago so that no longer plays a role in my skin and former acne issues.  Good luck with your skin care adventures!  

PanOxyl worked wonders for me! It comes in both a bar and foaming wash. I personally prefer the foaming wash, but I when I first used PanOxyl I used the bar. Looking at photos from before I used it and after my skin cleared up incredibly. I would warn you though that it is drying so moisturize and start with only using it once a day. 

I now also use WitchHazel which I am a huge fan of. It has so many uses!

What made my skin clear up was the gel cleanser and beta hydroxy pads from a brand called Studio Gear.  They carry the line at ULTA.  It’s $28 bucks a pop but I’m not going back to something that doesn’t work for me.  This works, and I recommend it to anyone :]

@WaitingToShrug@xanga - curious– what is OCM?

I am a vegan with celiac disease and only eat raw cane sugar that is unrefined, etc.  So I’m in the same boat for the most part– except I have NO idea what OCM is lol.

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I use a generic daily face wash for sensitive skin (comparable to Clearasil daily face wash), once a week I use St Ives Apricot Scrub. When my face is looking super dry I mix organic coconut oil with a little white sugar to use a scrub because the coconut oil won’t clog pores and it helps with the dry skin (it makes an amazing body wash too!). Good luck! 

Although going to the Dermatologist is the best option to determine what’s best for you skin, you could try washing the affected areas with Head & Shoulders (The shampoo only with 1% zinc). The zinc and the high amount of salicylic acid, which anti-dandruff shampoos contain will help dry out the acne and calm down the irritation. I know it sounds a little crazy, but my dermatologist actually recommended it to me for my face and body acne, and it has been doing wonders!

I have tried everything and I have acne issues too. I am also a licensed esthetician… and professional products and OTC always made mine worse. The only things that work for me are a homemade wash I use daily with honey, olive oil, sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, tea tree oil, and lavender oil. Then I tone with apple cider vinegar diluted 1 tbsp to 2 oz water, that also has tea tree and lavender in it. Moisturize with pure aloe, then coconut oil. ONLY routine that has ever CLEARED up my acne…

@thinkpinkpanther@xanga - I am on the paleo/primal diet. OCM is the oil-cleansing method. I use this several times a week, but on nights that I’m really tired, I just massage plain coconut oil into my face and wipe off with a warm, wet washcloth. For moisturizing, I use either plain coconut oil or coconut oil with 3-4 drops of tea tree oil mixed in. One of my favorite bloggers writes about her experiences with OCM here.

Nutrition is the biggie, I follow most of the recommendations here. I eat sauerkraut (got a case coming in the mail this week, yay!) every day, I take the Green Pastures cod liver oil/butter blend (the capsules, I’m not brave enough for the gels!), and just recently I started drinking brewer’s yeast in water (not a great taste). I also eat a lot of coconut oil. 

@WaitingToShrug – thanks for the link! I’m a naturalist, vegan, gluten free, artificial sweetener, and artificial color free, as well as almost all organic and not processed– so, I love this idea [I currently use the "no poo" method for hair washing] so this is right up my ally!